Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 63 Advancement Exams: Stage One

            As Torrey stepped off the bus, 18 hours later, the first thing he noticed was the satisfying crunch of snow beneath his shoes.

            The frozen tundra of the North...we're really in Hokkaido, he thought.       

            "And so it begins," said Soma.

            "P-please don't say that so d-dramatically," stuttered Megumi, who's confidence from earlier had been lost somewhere along the ride.

            "The beginning...of the end," said Torrey.

            "Torrey!" said Ryoko. "You're scaring Megumi!"

            The redhead was right, of course. While quaking in fear, even Megumi's eyes had gone pale.

            "Sorry! I meant to say it's the beginning of the end of our first-year at Totsuki!" Torrey added cheerfully.

            "Then why the hell didn't you?!" said Ikumi, snarling.

            "Soma sounded really cool just now, so I wanted to say something ominous, too."

            "This is no time for cheap theatrics! Besides, Yukihira was most definitely NOT cool," said Erina, leading her group towards the site of the first stage. It was a grand building stretching high in the sky, which seemed out of place in front of a white-mountain backdrop.

            "Miss Erina's right," said Hisako, walking beside her liege. "Everyone needs to stay alert. I expect that we haven't seen the last of Azami's dirty tricks."

            An excellent point, although Torrey thought she was being a little too paranoid when he noticed her glancing frantically around.

            Is she expecting Azami to send a group of ninja assassins? Or maybe a magical girls spec-ops team...wow, that would be a crazy crossover event, thought Torrey.

            Each of the students was carrying their bag with them, and nobody had mentioned anything about where they'd be staying for the night. Torrey assumed the intent was to keep the Resistance members as uncomfortable as possible, judging from their bus ride.

            Once they were inside the building (the students who arrived by plane were already there), a school official delivered their next instructions via megaphone.

            "The first portion of the exam is a group assignment, and all of you have been divided into groups of five. Each group will work together to complete one dish. Should the dish fail to reach a passing level, all five members will be expelled."

            Erina caught Torrey's eye, and nodded. It was just as he told her it would be.

            "Groups have been predetermined by the administration. Please follow faculty directions to get to your assigned room."

            It took some time to divide all the students up, and the Resistance was split between several of the rooms. Torrey ended up in the same room as Erina, Soma, Megumi, Yuki, Alice, and Ryo.

            "Miss Erina, you'll be a part of this group, along with Tormund and Jonny. This way, please," said a staff member, indicating a kitchen station on the far side of the room, where two girls were already waiting. Torrey didn't recognize them, but he wasn't too concerned because there was almost a zero percent chance that they'd factor into the story after this chapter.

            "All right! Torrey AND Erina? What is this, the all-star team?" said Jonny, thrilled with the grouping.

            "Strange...I understand why Father would group the Resistance members together, but why US?" said Erina, cupping her chin while she thought this through.